Associations of maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D in pregnancy with offspring cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and adolescence: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

OBJECTIVE: Lower maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy may be associated with increased offspring cardiovascular risk in later life, but evidence for this is scant. We examined associations of maternal total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in pregnancy with offspring cardiovascular risk factors assessed in childhood and adolescence. DESIGN: A longitudinal, prospective study. SETTING: The study was based on data from mother–offspring pairs in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a UK prospective population-based birth cohort (N=4109). OUTCOME MEASURES: Offspring cardiovascular risk factors were measured in childhood (mean age 9.9 years) and in adolescence (mean age 15.4 years): blood pressure, lipids, apolipoproteins (at 9.9 years only), glucose and insulin (at 15.4 years only), C reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin 6 (at 9.9 years only) were measured. RESULTS: After adjustments for potential confounders (maternal age, education, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, parity, socioeconomic position, ethnicity, and offspring gestational age at 25(OH)D sampling; gender, age, and BMI at outcome assessment), maternal 25(OH)D was inversely associated with systolic blood pressure (−0.48 mm Hg difference per 50 nmol/L increase in 25(OH)D; 95% CI −0.95 to −0.01), Apo-B (−0.01 mg/dL difference; 95% CI −0.02 to −0.001), and CRP (−6.1% difference; 95% CI −11.5% to −0.3%) at age 9.9 years. These associations were not present for risk factors measured at 15.4 years, with the exception of a weak inverse association with CRP (−5.5% difference; 95% CI −11.4% to 0.8%). There was no strong evidence of associations with offspring triglycerides, glucose or insulin. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that fetal exposure to 25(OH)D is unlikely to influence cardiovascular risk factors of individuals later in life.